Driest March and April on record, below normal runoff

[bigtj]

Time to plan this season's fishing trips, and also time to start thinking of running them 2-4 weeks early than "normal". It's going to be another early year this year and a long, dry, dusty summer. Despite a great January and February, March and April were just about the driest in 100 years of recorded history:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/warnings.php?wfo=rev&zone=NVZ003&pil=XXXSPSREV&productType=Special+Weather+Statement

So all the hopes of a strong runoff year are pretty much out the window. If this news isn't bad enough, Sierra snowpack is 67% of normal (on average, luckily northern sierra snowpack is 80% of average):

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/NEWS18/80501038

Plan on switching from streams to high country lakes in August and September. The lakes fish still fish great during dry summers and it gives the stream fish a break

[Darian]

Interesting isn't it :?: :?: :?: Our government, at all levels, is encouraging water conservation; including projections of the need for water rationing. Dam operators are reducing spillage as the anticipated run-off will probably not re-fill reservoirs drawn down to very low levels. Yet, the City of Sacramento is wholesaling a portion of it's water allocation to keep it's proposed utility rate increase to a minimum. :? :?

Considering that there are 7,000 entities who remove water from the Sacramento/San Joaquin River watershed (according to DWR), if all of these entities wholesale all or a portion of their allocation, it could add up to a staggering amount of water taken from the source and made available to other public utilities, corporate and other farmers or water distributors....

Conservation is sounding a bit hollow and it seems that everyone is getting into the act. :( :( :(

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

"Smoke & Mirrors"................?

I heard 80% of water usage in CA was agriculture and industry.

Then 20% is residential.

Now who is not supposed to flush there toilet less?

During the last serious draught in CA they shut down those cotton farmers to the south.

With our air quality I believe that more growth in our valley is technically illegal?

Hell, we got so many problems that I think I'll just go fishing tomorrow.

[bigtj]

Bill,

Agricultural and industrial water use (and waste!) has been the dirty little secret in the west for a long, long time. Residential water use, even with the growth we've had in the past 20 years, pales in comparison to industrial and agricultural use. I'm all for conservation in residential water use, but it's in agriculture and industry where the greatest amount of waste occurs. Huge amounts of water are evaporated into the air every year that could be eliminated with drip irrigation. I know a postgraduate student from Israel (where water is scarce) that is appalled with irrigation practices in the US. Bottom line is we all need to conserve but it's important for the biggest wasters to do their part as well. We should not be following Arnold's call to build more destructive reservoirs. We need to make a stand and learn to make due with what we have, and limit growth when necessary.

Hopefully thought we'll get a wet winter next year and the immediate needs for water won't be a huge issue.